I left the hotel in Portland about 0700 hrs. No traffic on the Labor Day holiday was nice. As I was heading east, on the outskirts of Gresham, I met-up with a cyclist on his way to work. Matt is a brewer for the McMinnivies?...... brewery. This company buys up old buildings, refurbishes them and turns them into something useful.
This brewery used to be a 'poor house' back in the day. There was a farm and housing for folks who could not find work. They worked the farm for their board and bread. It is now a functioning brewery and winery.
Matt did a trans-america tour with his fiance last year. They started in Cape Cod and made their way to Astoria. They settled in the Portland area and he found work at the brewery. He worked for Harpoon Brewery in Boston prior to this. He was nice to talk with and he has since e-mailed me a comment. Nice man.
The climb to the Crown Point Vista was not difficult. While I was snacking and looking over the maps obtained at the visitor's desk, a man with a bicycle on his T-shirt asked me which direction I was headed. When I said east, he said did I know about the road work at the Moffitt bridge. "No," said I. He went into the building to get some info for me. When he did not return after several minutes, I went into the building as well. He was speaking with the two volunteers staffing the desk. Neither one could help with info about this roadwork. The guy with the bicycle T-shirt just confused me when he said I might be able to ride on the area of the roadwork. He said the bridge work had been completed. I found this info to be false in a few hours.
Headed down to Multnomah Falls and the tourists scattered everywhere around the beautiful setting. Good thing I had a bike because there was lots of parking at the bike stand. Spoke to a few cyclists about the road work at Moffitt bridge, but none could update me, as they were just doing a day trip.
The Historic Hwy was much busier than my last trip. But it was a holiday and the drivers were courteous. I had to make a decision about getting onto I-84 at Warrendale. (Where Warrendale actually is, I have no idea). I tried staying on the south side of the freeway and could see where the road work was being done on the bike path. I cycled onto the compacted dirt and headed for the bridge, which was supposed to have been completed. WRONG! The bridge is still being constructed.
I turned around and spotted a frontage road on the other north side of I-84. I gave that a try too, even as it turned into a gravel road. This was a dead-end at the local fishing hole.
So after 30 or so minutes of wrong way turns, I finally headed up the ramp for the I-84. After about 2-3 miles, I was able to get off the freeway and back on the Historic route again.
I came the the portage area, with the steep stairway. This time I was able to use the smooth gutters to carefully roll Sisyphos down the stairs. There are 4 sets of steps and each was a challenge. With the panniers, I just fit against the railing and into the gutter. Last time, going west and up the stairs, it took me 4 trips to get the panniers and bike up to the top.
Made it to Cascade Locks by 1300 hrs. Tried to camp at an RV campground, but that did not happen. The owner was not there and the man and woman helping out for the day were not much help at all. I rode down the street and found a motel room for the night. Not the best motel, but it worked for me.
I am at the library in Hood River, now. I have tried to figure-out hold to upload photos from my phone and onto the blog site, but have been unsuccessful. I will upload photos when I can.
Heading for a campground in Parkdale, just up the hill. That will get me started on my climb for tomorrow. I will not have access to a library for a few days and will probably be out of cell phone range, as well.
Another beautiful day in the Columbia River Gorge! Aloha!
No comments:
Post a Comment